MGoGrendel

June 25th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^

"...it's just something that happens on the pitch" and went on to say something along the lines of incedental contact. 

Maybe if this was the first time, but doing it a third time shows the pattern.  Lifetime ban?

 

Meanwhile, look who is now sporting a soccer jersey!

 

The Peanut Master

June 25th, 2014 at 2:16 AM ^

A repeat offender of such a malicious, disturbing act of violence should really be a lifetime ban from anything FIFA has jurisdiction over. Period.

The only alternative I'd really accept is for FIFA to mandate Suarez receive serious, intensive, professional help, and only after receiving approval from multiple pysicians that he is in a better frame of mind would he be alllowed back (and even then I would argue that should come with a minimum 1 year ban).

Maybe this comes off too harsh, maybe not, but a 4 or 5-game suspension (which I fear is in the cards) just won't cut it, and will do FIFA no favors in winning back even a morsel of public opinion.

The Peanut Master

June 25th, 2014 at 3:30 AM ^

I can't tell if you're being serious or not, but first of all, biting can be very dangerous. If skin is penetrated you can get some nasty diseases (see: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/218901-overview), and penetrating skin is not all that difficult (in this particular case Suarez was idiotic enough to bite through clothing so it's very unlikely here, but the intent is the same). Getting cleated in the ankle is no joke either, but I don't think I'm going to get a potentially life-threatening disease from it, so you may want to re-think your preferences here.

And yes, it is malicious, disturbing, violent, and *extremely* abnormal and concerning for anyone older than kindergarten-aged to engage in such an act, let alone on the stage Suarez does it on and on repeated occasions. If you can't see that then I have nothing more to say.

JHendo

June 25th, 2014 at 9:23 AM ^

When my 2-toothed 10 month old attempts to bite my wife's leg for no good reason, that's hilarious.  When a grown man on one of the world's biggest stages tries to bite an opponent because in his very confused mind he believes it will afford him some semblence of a competitive advantage, that's quite disturbing.

youn2948

June 25th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^

If he was biting to tear off flesh or it was a true bite mark(both sets of teeth) I'd be a tad more concerned and consider it violent or malicious. Besides, who bites with one jaw?

I broke my ankles 4 times playing soccer on retarded kicks, slides etc which went mostly uncalled.  Rather be bit, could still play then.

I have been elbowed in the face and left tooth marks, before the age of wearing mouth gards.  Also, vice versa.

 

Have him wear a mouth guard, his teeth are protected so no whining about an elbow and no question of an accident.  He may be an idiot who screams with his mouth open and collides with his teeth(unlikely), I haven't watched the event from 100 angles but I think the red card against Italy was about as controversial.  I missed the "bite", as I had to get back to work.

 

I do believe Suarez probably bit him which is retarded, learn to control your frustration within the game.  It was not a bite or consuming flesh which some people minds jump to.  Ban him from international soccer but let him play for his club, maybe ban a few games but there are more malicious acts that occur, this is just childish.

Gulogulo37

June 25th, 2014 at 3:19 AM ^

I think a lifetime ban is way over the top. Some people apparently have the idea that biting someone, not even hard enough to break skin, is just the most demented thing you could do, and I don't get that. Yeah sure it's weird and it hurt, but ultimately how is it worse than last year's final and the dude from the Netherlands kicking that Spanish player right in the chest?

He should certainly be banned for the rest of the World Cup at least though. You could make it longer, but no one cares if he's out of a friendly next year.

cbuswolverine

June 25th, 2014 at 3:38 AM ^

That kick from last year's final and Suarez biting another player for the third time aren't even comparable.  That kick happened during the normal course of play.  That's like comparing a helmet-to-helmet hit or a horse collar tackle to spitting in somebody's face.  Players need to know that they can play soccer without fear of being randomly fucking bitten by another player.  This is crazy.  I'm not for a lifetime ban yet, either, but I'm getting there.  He has to stop doing this. 

Haywood Jablomy

June 26th, 2014 at 9:15 AM ^

Keep posting such drivel and you may well get spit on.  Let us take the liberty of extrapolating the biting scenario as you did with the horse collar tackle:  I would rather get spit on, aquire, AIDS and hepatitis A,B and C than be horse collared tackled and tear and ACL...   

See how silly you are?

Also, you missed the point your zeal for wanting to be spat on...the horse collar tackle and the helmet to helmet scenarios both occur during the normal course of play. Take some time to reread things if need be. That's what good readers do.

M-Dog

June 25th, 2014 at 8:33 AM ^

Grabbing someone's balls is probably not as bad as a full force kick in the chest either.  So we should overlook it?  
 
There comes a point where you have to have some standards of normalcy.
 
As a soccer player, I expect to be on the lookout for stray kicks in the run of play.  I don't expect to be bitten.
 

 

TESOE

June 25th, 2014 at 2:29 AM ^

WC play is the only play that matters for FIFA.  Who cares about 1-2 year bans.

5 years and he will have to explain it to his kids.  2 years and he is right back in the qualifying and WC picture.  5 years is the only intervention that to me makes sense.  The guy is sick.

LSAClassOf2000

June 25th, 2014 at 6:38 AM ^

I could be wrong, but it seems like the only instances of lifetime bans handed out by FIFA - at least in recent memory - were to players / people involved in bribery, corruption and other things which were mechanically designed to undermine the integrity of the game, if you will. Offhand, and someone feel free to correct me because my pool of examples is definitely finite, assault hs usually been a temporary ban of up to a few years. 

Although, like someone said above, a mask might be nice in the case of Suarez - something along the lines of Rip Hamilton, but meant for the protection of others and something made of a thicker material (maybe Plexiglass if Suarez is worried about field vision) that ensures that, in future, the greatest risk is to his own face. 

a2_electricboogaloo

June 25th, 2014 at 8:16 AM ^

Bribery, corruption and undermining the integrity of the game?  FIFA better ban itself then.

But yeah, I'm not convinced he should get a lifetime ban, but he definitely deserves a hefty ban, as this is a repeat offense (and he's just generally a giant asshole).  Maybe a ban for at least a couple years of international play (or maybe just ban him from the next World Cup).  

Unicycle Firefly

June 25th, 2014 at 7:07 AM ^

I just saw a report on Sportscenter that Suarez is facing a 2 MATCH ban, not a two year ban.  That would be absolutely deplorable assuming that's the case and it wasn't a mistake by ESPN.

Zoltanrules

June 25th, 2014 at 7:28 AM ^

Some sort of replay is needed in the WC for incidents in the box. The worst part of the Suarez foul is that he received no red card, and the ensuing play, when Italy was still riled, cost them their WC lives. Suarez probably gets a ban through September IMO.

taistreetsmyhero

June 25th, 2014 at 7:30 AM ^

FIFA can do according to its disciplinary code is 24 months. However, if this were a Disney movie, sepp blatter would eventually come to the groundbreaking conclusion that he already does whatever the fuck he wants and can ban Suarez forever.

abertain

June 25th, 2014 at 7:37 AM ^

While I agree that Suarez should be suspended, I'm definitely in the camp of people who don't think he's an animal who should be banned for years. Wat it stupid, yes? Are many of the things that we watch happen on a football field, including helmet to helmet hits probably far more dangerous? Probably. I understand that the difference between happening in the field of play and as an act of aggression, but we see plenty of things happen all the time like fights in the NBA, which result in suspensions, but not people claiming the people involved are insane animals. Quite frankly, this whole discussion over here seems to lack a bit of nuance, other than the person who pointed out the chest kick delivered by the Netherlands last year. Sports are emotional, which doesn't excuse the action, but anyone who has grown up playing them has probably lost it at some point and done something mildly stupid. However, it's always been easier to judge someone else's actions harshly than to consider our own. Lifetime ban! 

Blue in Yarmouth

June 25th, 2014 at 8:03 AM ^

I'm not in the camp of the people calling for a lifetime ban on the guy, but there is clearly a pattern of behaviour that has surfaced here when it comes to Suarez. The guy is a complete sack of crap. He's a confirmed racist who goes around biting people when he gets pissed off because he isn't man enough to handle things like an adult. I'm not for a lifetime ban, but I can't think of a better term for a creature that goes around biting other human beings than animal. Humans that are in their right mind understand how completely ridiculous that is. 

Also, mildly stupid and biting someone aren't really in the same category in my opinion. Mildly stupid would be stepping on someone accidently on purpose when they're on the ground in soccer, not biting them. Also, as said above this isn't the first time he did this exact thing. Forget your Suarez love for a minute and look at this in an unbiased way and you would agree that you are seriously underselling the gravity of what he did when all factors are considered. 

Should he have a lifetime ban? No. Is it fair for people to be outraged that for a third time this racist joker has biten an opponent? Absolutely.